Phew! What a race that was! Whoever watched the recent Hickory Late Model race must have had the same reaction. The race did not end with just a fight between the cars. Some crew members had a literal wrestling match in the pit lanes. Precedence has shown that such behavior is penalized. Like last year’s CARS Tour race at Tri-County Motor Speedway. Katie Hettinger and Caden Kvapil’s crash led to their respective factions into a physical fight.

In Hickory, so much happened, crashes, physical fights, and controversial decisions. However, why is the co-owner of the CARS TOUR, Dale Earnhardt Jr silent on the incident?

Why is Dale Earnhardt Jr tight-lipped about the Hickory incident?

A lot of drama unfolded at the Hickory Motor Speedway. Firstly, with just a few laps remaining, Ryan Millington spun Connor Hall. The incident awarded Millington, who finished first a black flag. Ronnie Bassett Jr, coming in third, took the win, his first in a Late Model event. As he took the checkered flag in victory lane, a physical fight broke out! Not between Millington and Hall, but between the crews of Landon Huffman and Andrew Grady. 

What happened was that Grady, for a large part of the race, was eyeing a top-10 finish. It all came crashing down with 60 laps to go. In turn 4, Huffman’s car rammed into the back of Grady, leading his car to spin and crash out of the race. A furious Grady stood on the track as Huffman lapped around. When Huffman came near him, Grady threw his seat belt at his car mid-race. Post-match, a furious Grady said, “In the words of Denny Hamlin, Landon Huffman is a hack.” To this Huffman was quick to reply; he said, “He wants to call me a hack that fine, I got a couple of championships and about 40 late model stock wins that he can s**k on.”

The tussle did not end with just words. A physical fight broke out between the crews of Grady and Huffman. Race officials had to step in and had to break the fight. At a point in time, CARS Tour founder Jack McNelly was also in the middle of the brawl. The video of the incident was quick to enter a Reddit chat. However, what is shocking is Dale Jr’s reaction to it. He said, “Not here to say anything but that I love the Cars Tour getting a moment in here. Thanks for watching.” Why are the owners silent about the incident? Shouldn’t such a track demeanor attract the highest of penalties? Or is this also just part of the game?

Fans were quick to react, as they had mixed reactions to the incident.

Fans react to the Hickory Brawl

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Some would argue what happened is a part of racing. However, is physically fighting over something that happened mid-race acceptable? Should what happened in the race be left in the race? A fan on similar lines wrote, “I am ok with driver vs driver but not crewmembers fighting.” On similar lines, a fan compared the events with that of a WWE wrestling match. He said, “This series is so fun to watch, but I don’t want it to be WWE on wheels like Bowman Gray. Good on them for not giving Millington the win.”

This is not the first time this has happened. It’s becoming part of the culture, which is not respectful. A fan reiterating this said, “I’m getting real tired of every late model stock finish being decided by being physical. Can nobody pass clean in this type of car?”

In January last year, NASCAR icons Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, and Justin Marks announced their acquisition of the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour. Since their acquisition, it’s been like a revival of Late Model racing. Fans seem to agree with this. One fan wrote, “Thanks for dumping money into it and keeping it alive!” It has given motorsport fans an alternative option. Here, because of the Olympic break, NASCAR is halted and people still have some racing to watch over the weekend. One fan wrote, “While NASCAR is on break I’ve been watching CARS other series on Flo. I recommend everyone give it a shot”

NASCAR will soon resume and hopefully, we’ll have a similar action-packed race in Richmond. Just without the punches. What do you think should be the penalty for such behavior on the racetrack? Let us know in the comments below.